Cat Got Your Tongue?
by MasterSatanOverlord
Summary: Kagami is normal guy going to a normal university. At least, that's what he thinks, but soon that normalcy goes down the drain and it begins with some guy named Aomine Daiki who decided to ruin his 3 in the morning cram session. Kind of a crappy summary, but hey tell me something I don't know. University!AU, Neko!AU The rating will eventually be bumped up to M.
1. Ah, It's A Wonderful Cat's Life

**So this is a thing I was inspired to do by the song** _ **Ah, It's A Wonderful Cat's Life**_ **sang by Ashe and Seka. If there is anything that doesn't make sense, or if there's any problems with consistency please ask. I'm still working out all the details for this story and the world it's taking place in. Jeez, who would have thought the first story I had for this fandom wouldn't even be my OTP..? I'm gonna leave a complete(?) list of this story's warnings at the end of this chapter, but I'll probably change that as the story goes on.**

 **Anyways… Here's the story.**

Kagami Taiga is sitting in his room, trying to study for his upcoming test when he suddenly hears a loud bang from outside his room, the fluffy black, orange, and white ears perking up and flicking towards the window with a view of the alleyway two floors below. Setting aside his Advanced English textbook Taiga makes his way to the window, looking out to see what had caused the disturbance. He sees a guy about his age and size, wearing a dark hooded jacket covering most of his tanned skin. His short, inky blue hair and matching blue-black ears slimmer and a bit pointier than Kagami's, though, were on full display. He gave off an air of confidence, the the smirk on his stupidly attractive face only adding to it. Kagami slides open the window, bracing his forearms on the sill, and leaning his upper body out. "Oi! Aho! What the hell are you thinking making so much noise so late?" He shouts out to the guy walking just below the window he was leaning out.

"Who the hell are you calling aho, you baka?"

"Hey! Who the hell's a baka? You're the one making so much noise! People are trying to sleep you know!" Kagami shouts out at the dark blunet.

"You're the baka! You're yelling too!" The dark skinned teen yells back. Kagami sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose before reopening his eyes, looking down at the other boy.

"What are you even doing out there? It's late."

"None of your business, priss." He responds after scoffing, like hell he was gonna tell this baka that he was on a sensitive mission for the man he worked for.

"Fine, whatever you say aho. So long as you can shut your stupid mouth."

"Oi! I already told you, you're the baka! You're the one yelling!" He says, speaking much more quietly, though still loud enough to be heard by the redhead with split eyebrows.

Kagami clicks his tongue and turns his head away. "That's just 'cause I wasn't sure if you'd understand any language other than hotheaded aho." Kagami bites out. "A-Anyways… It's like three in the morning in the middle of winter. Do you want to come up and maybe warm up or something?" The redhead offers, not too worried about letting the guy in. Yeah he was lurking around an alleyway in the middle of the night but he didn't seem like the kind of person who would injure someone without good cause.

The tanned male blinks up at the split brow baka. What the hell? What was this guy thinking? Or did he just believe in himself enough to take out a stray, a pureblood? Sure the guy was a bit far to be sure but he didn't smell like a stray… "Dude, I know I'm sexy. Hard to resist, ya know? I get it. But you really shouldn't just invite strangers into your house."

"Hah?" Kagami asks, not quite realising the implications of his own words until they were made clear by the blunette. He gasps, face becoming as red as his own hair and his voice raises to a shout again. "Aho! That's not what I meant! Just… It's cold, I wouldn't want to be out there for long..." The redhead rubs the back of his neck. "So you wanna come up or not?" He repeats his question, crimson eyes intense as he looks at the other teen.

"Eh, I guess." He shrugs before judging the distance to the redhead's window. "You might wanna move..." He says, readying himself to jump.

"What? There's no way you'll make that!" Kagami says even as he takes a couple steps back in compliance to the blunette's request. He couldn't help his, very manly, shriek of surprise when the tanned teen suddenly appears in the window, his hands gripping either side of the frame as he pulls himself in. "What the fuck aho?" He screeches once the blunette had managed to shimmy himself all the way through the window. Kagami takes just a moment to breathe in the new scent that this guy brought in. He had the overpowering scent of a cat but also there was leather and cinnamon and the aho's personal scent below that. Warm and woodsy. This guy smelt too strongly to be one of those turned, a pet, or mixed blood. He was definitely pure stray. "Ah, what's your name?" Kagami asks as he shuts the window behind the blunette who was now glancing curiously around the bland room. Nothing but a bed and a dresser with a couple of photos on it.

"Aomine." Kagami snorts quietly as he gestures for the other teen to follow him. "What the hell's so funny baka?" He asks, glaring daggers into the redhead's back.

"Ahomine." Kagami snorts again before falling into a fit of laughter and leaning against the kitchen counter to keep his balance.

"Shut up, baka!" Aomine growls and when Kagami catches his breath again, he makes his way over to the fridge and takes out the leftover curry he had made earlier.

"Want something to eat?" He offers, holding out the food to punctuate his words.

"Sure." Aomine accepts, only slightly begrudgingly, as he realizes that he is indeed hungry. Heating up the food, Kagami moves around the tidy kitchen to prepare tea. "What's your name?" He asks after a few moments of silence.

"Kagami Taiga." The redhead responds, taking the food from the microwave and stirring it around to evenly distribute the heat before placing it in front of Aomine whose head had snapped up, his intense navy eyes focusing on the other teen as he had moved closer.

"You… You're Kagami Taiga?" He asks, partially unbelieving and partially curious.

"Y-Yes..?" He responds uncertainly, looking up at the blunet. Maybe he shouldn't have let a stranger in after all.

Aomine picks up the fork supplied by Kagami, turning his attention to the curry. It looked good and smelled good but that meant nothing. He pokes at it delicately, picking some of the food up on the prongs and bringing it slowly to his face. He opens his mouth and places the small bit of food on his tongue, closing his eyes and lips as he chews. After swallowing his eyes open again to meet Kagami's, the redhead had begun fidgeting, playing with his fingers as he waited for Aomine to speak, to say something. "This is pretty decent Bakagami! I'm surprised!" He says, shoveling more food into his mouth.

"Wha-" Kagami cuts himself off, refusing to acknowledge the comment as he goes to pull the whistling tea pot off the stove. When Kagami turned his back on the blunet, Aomine put down his fork and took out his phone, sending a short message:

 **To: Akashi**

 **3:32**

 **Found him.**

Picking up the metal utensil again, he starts up finishing the curry as Kagami places a cup of tea in front of him. Looking up at the redhead, he allows himself a little smirk, not voicing his thoughts that Kagami Taiga might be a little rough, but overall would make a good housewife.

"Thanks, Bakagami." He says before taking a sip of the tea, smirk still present on his face.

"What'd you just call me, Ahomine?" Kagami shouts, slamming his hands down onto the table.

"Calm down baka. It's too early in the morning for you to be screeching." Aomine responds calmly as his phone vibrates in his pocket.

 **From: Akashi**

 **3:35**

 **Alright, do nothing but keep an eye on him for now Daiki.**

 **To: Akashi**

 **3:36**

 **Can do.**

After returning the phone to his pocket, Aomine looks up to find a grumbling Kagami sipping at his own cup of tea.

"Did you get kicked out?" The redhead asks once he calmed down again. He knew it wasn't his business what the blunette was doing out so late but he was curious. He wanted to know.

"Hah?" Aomine speaks without thinking. "Why the hell do you think that? Baka."

"Oh, I dunno. Because you're creeping around outside at three in the morning..?" Kagami responds, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Daiki blinks at the tiger, realizing that was a perfectly reasonable response. "Is it really any of your business?" He shoots back, knowing he can't give away why he was wandering around outside Kagami's apartment.

"I guess not… But if you don't have anywhere to stay, I have an empty guest room..." His voice trailed off into a whisper but thanks to his elevated senses, and slightly twitching blue-black ears, the panther could hear him. Aomine sets the fork on the now empty plate and looks at Kagami just a bit strangely, raising an eyebrow. Before he can respond though, the tiger picks up the empty dishes and stalks back toward the kitchen.

 **To: Akashi**

 **3:45**

 **He Invited me to live with him.**

 **What should I do?**

 **From: Akashi**

 **3:46**

 **Stay. This is a good opportunity to gain his trust. We need his cooperation.**

 **To: Akashi**

 **3:47**

 **Yes, sir!**

Getting up from his spot at the table, he walks toward the sound of running water. Pushing past the door, he finds Kagami with his back turned, tail swaying slightly and ears flicking back to follow the sound of Daiki's footsteps. "You know… You shouldn't offer strangers a place to stay. But since you asked so nicely… Sure. I'll stay with you. So long as you can keep your hands to yourself, tiger.~" He says the last bit as flirtatiously as he can, setting his tanned hands on Kagami's hips and leaning in to whisper into his ear. He can feel the shudder go down the redhead's spine as the plate crashed into the sink and the orange and black striped tail wrapped around one of Aomine's legs. He could hear a quiet gasp before Kagami whirled around, face red with anger and embarrassment as he shouts at the blunette.

"Shut the fuck up, Ahomine!"

 **I'm really sorry if the end of this chapter feels forced, but I couldn't find a way to end this without feeling forced and I didn't want to give you a wall of text… Again, if you have any questions about the consistency or anything at all, go ahead and ask. I'd be happy to answer anything! I'm really sorry, again, if this seems OOC. This is the first story I've written for this fandom. And I was writing this at the same time I was typing up the latest chapter of Scouts and Scales. Soooo…. That probably didn't help…**

 **Story Warnings: Boy x Boy, neko AU, possible mpreg, explicit sexual content, violence, possible character death, general douchebaggery, OOCness, possible mentions of and explicit rape/noncon, scientific experimentation, and also child abuse/neglect.**


	2. Late Night Calls

"So where am I sleeping, tiger?~" Aomine asks playfully, enjoying the way the redhead prickled at the teasing.

Gritting his teeth, Kagami stands, gesturing for the blunet to follow, as he stalked out of the kitchen and down the hallway towards the guest room he had promised Aomine. In the hallway, the redhead pauses at the linen closet to get clean sheets for the unmade bed. Kagami is a simple man. When he goes shopping for new bedding he chooses simple sheets of any color he likes. He currently has three sets of bedding; black, navy blue, and a deep red that is similar to his own hair color. Of course, these sheets catch the attention of Aomine, who had his eyes drawn to the color of the fabric Kagami had pulled out. A small smirk draws up the corner of his mouth but he stays silent as Kagami continues on to the room he had already mentally assigned to Aomine. Having already used up his good will and hospitality by taking this man in and feeding him, he shoves the sheets into the navy haired man's arms.

"You can make the bed, right?" Kagami asks in his most demeaning tone as if to ask if the man was stupid. Scoffing, Aomine tosses the unnecessary sheets to the side before getting to work, stretching the fitted sheet over the edges and corners of the mattress.

"So. You like red? Or is this your subtle way of telling me to dream of you tonight?" Aomine jokes, lifting his eyebrows suggestively, Kagami's eyes widen and his cheeks pinken just slightly.

"What the fuck are you saying, aho? Of course not! Those are the only sheets I have left!" He backs away from Aomine, out the door. "If you have a problem with that, you can leave. Right on back out that fucking window you came in from!" He shouts, slamming the door behind himself and stomping down the hallway to his own room. Flopping onto his bed, he pulls his pillow to his face and mumbles into the cushion. "Dammit. What the hell? What the fuck have I done to deserve this shit? God fuck..." He groans quietly. "Why me?" He continued groaning for a few minutes before remembering why he was so frustrated with the new addition to his household. With a huff, he sits up, tossing aside his pillow as he wiggles his way to the edge of his bed to swing his legs down and slide off the mattress. He closes the short distance between himself and his abandoned English textbook. With a sigh, he lifts the book into his large hands again, still not comprehending what the book was trying to teach him. He had grown up learning English. He had lived in America. He was bilingual, dammit! He really didn't need to take a class on the subject but it was apparently a required part of the curriculum that couldn't be waived. Of course, he didn't mind that too much until he had been to class and realized how incompetent the professor was and how out-dated the language and phrasing was. It didn't make any sense the way it was being taught and, despite his knowledge of the language, he was still failing the class. After scribbling a few notes, Kagami huffs out another sigh and shuts the textbook. This cram session was definitely not helping him retain any of the outdated knowledge printed on the thin pages of the required text. Pulling out his phone, he scrolls through his message threads and selects the one labeled with Himuro's name, his thumbs dancing around uselessly for a moment before typing out a quick message to his kind-of brother.

To: Tatsuya

4:03

i need help

He sends along, glad the ridiculously pretty shooting guard was currently in America so he might actually respond at this hour. And sure enough, just a few minutes later:

From: Tatsuya

4:08

Taiga, what are you doing up? It's way too early there. Please tell me you didn't stay up all night again, you need sleep.

Kagami rolls his eyes at the typical response, complaining about his lack of sleep like always. Just as the redhead was about to type up a message for the boy though, his phone buzzed again.

From: Tatsuya

4:09

Now that the mandatory scolding is done… What's going on, Taiga? You can't just send a message like that and expect me not to worry. How can I help?

To: Tatsuya

4:10

im not bad without sleep so dont you give me any shit about it

To: Tatsuya

4:10

i didnt mean to worry you sorry

To: Tatsuya

4:10

can i call

Kagami sends in quick succession and then waits for the black haired teen to get back to him. He sets aside his phone, closing his eyes as he leans back. Practically jumping out of his skin a few minutes later when his phone begins spouting out the lyrics to an American song he often found stuck in his head. Groaning, he grabs his phone and answers the call, knowing it could only be Himuro.

"Hey, Tetsuya..." He says, automatically switching from Japanese to English as he brings the phone to his ear and moves to flop back onto his bed, covering his eyes with his forearm as he sighs yet again.

"What's going on, Taiga? You don't usually need to call for anything. Or ask for help." His voice is tinged with concern and Kagami can hear the background noise of LA bustling around wherever the older boy found himself at the moment, most likely a street court.

"I uhhh… I might have invited a stranger to live with me..?" Kagami replies, unable to lie to his brother and not wanting to even try. He needed some serious advice right now, he had no idea what to do.

There is a long stretch of silence before Kagami hears a deep sigh and he could almost see Himuro pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyebrows crinkle up in frustration. "And why would you do that, Taiga?"

"It's late. It's winter. He didn't have anywhere to go. I'm pretty sure he won't murder me." He responds, earning another sigh.

"Dammit, Taiga! You didn't even stop to think about it, did you? What is he?" He asks, his voice dropping to nearly a whisper at his second question.

"Most likely a stray..?" The redhead responds, speaking slowly as if trying to put off the delivery of his words.

The other side goes quiet again and, after a moment, he hears Tatsuya's voice, full of conviction. "I'll be back in a few days." And the line goes dead. Kagami sighs yet again, knowing there was no point in even trying to change his brother's mind. It wasn't going to change anything even if he did try to stop him from making the trip. He releases his hold on his phone, letting it drop on his pillow, before rolling onto his side to face away from the device. He couldn't believe how much his life had gone to hell in just an hour. Kagami finally lets his eyes slip shut, though he fights falling asleep, and he eventually drifts off.

The redhead wakes up hours later to the sound of a loud curse and he jerks himself upward into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes and flailing his hands over his bed to find his phone. When he finally locates the device, he turns on the screen and checks the time only to find that it's just before noon. Kagami makes his way out of his room and into his kitchen, red eyebrows furrowed and his tail flicking to showcase his displeasure. "Aho, you're still here?" He asks, his voice deep and rough with sleep as he takes in the scene before him. Aomine was standing in front of the stove, a pan full of blackened something on one of the burners, now thankfully turned off. The vent on the microwave, mounted above the oven was on, but it still smelled of charred… egg. If the shells on the countertop were anything to go by. "Please don't burn down the place. I actually like it here..." He continues, his lips curling up into a grin as the shirtless teen in front of him jumps and whirls around to glare at the tiger. His black ears flat on his head as he snarled at his red haired companion.

"Shut the fuck up, baka. It's too early to listen to your nagging," Aomine says as he empties the pan into the garbage can, tossing out the eggshells as well.

"It's noon," Taiga responds, shooing the darker skinned male out of the kitchen as he opens a drawer, pulling out his apron and tying it in place. It was a gift from Alex, his kind-of mom in LA, it was a deep crimson red with a small chibi tiger embroidered onto the chest pocket. He wets his hands and pushes them through his hair, temporarily holding it out of his face, before washing his hands properly and getting to work making two cheese omelets, hash browns, and a small mountain of bacon. He loads the food up onto two plates and offers the blunet a fork. Kagami doesn't bother sitting, he just leans himself against the counter as he slices through the fluffy egg with his fork. If he wasn't still only half asleep he might have been concerned with Aomine's lack of talking after his first few comments about how Kagami was just like a housewife which had followed his annoying laughter aimed at the red fabric tied around his waist.

Kagami leaves his apron on as he eats, pausing about halfway through his meal to check his phone. He doesn't find any new messages, but that's not surprising, so he sends one along to Himuro. It was only about four in the morning in LA, so Kagami wasn't expecting a response, but he needed to know.

To: Tatsuya

11:28

were you serious about coming to tokyo

He leaves the message there, rubbing at his temple as he sets down his phone and imagines his brother's reaction to the whole situation. His ears flatten against his head and his tail sways slowly.

"Aw, what's with that face, baka? Do you got a clingy ex-boyfriend?" Aomine asks teasingly, finally breaking his streak of silence and Kagami wonders, in the back of his mind, if that was a record for how long he could go without speaking.

"No, I just… Am trying to figure out how to explain this whole mess to my brother..." The redhead replies, indulging Aomine with more information than was really necessary to answer his question as he begins eating again.

"You have a brother?" Aomine asks, his eyebrows furrowing a bit, mostly confused but also a bit surprised. There was no record of Kagami Taiga having any siblings. His only living relatives were listed as his father, who lived in Los Angeles more often than not, his maternal grandmother, and his paternal grandfather, neither of which lived nearby.

"Well… Sort of? I lived abroad for a few years and we got really close. He's like my unofficial adopted brother. He doesn't live with me, but he's coming for a visit in a few days..." Kagami trails off, his eyes going blank as he stares off into space again.

"If he's going to be staying here, I don't mind finding somewhere else to go..." Aomine offers, cursing internally as he does so. Damn this stupid brother for slipping in and getting rid of his excuse to stay near and gain Kagami's trust without becoming suspicious.

"No, when he comes in for visits he has a friend he stays with. Or he'll stay at a hotel if he's coming to Tokyo." At the redhead's words, Aomine tried not to show his relief, but he was sure that his ears perking up and his tail swaying was enough to give him away. Or at least, it would have been if the tiger had actually been paying attention to him rather than staring at nothing while shoveling the remainder of his food into his mouth. The blunet takes this opportunity to send another message to Akashi.

To: Akashi

11:34

He has a surrogate brother coming to visit. POA..?

 **Man, I'm really bad at ending chapters, huh? They always feel awkwardly chopped. This is kind of short, but I am going to be updating another story this week (Six Trillion Years and Overnight Story, not even for the same fandom...). I'm sorry if it feels like there was a sudden shift in tone early on in this chapter, I had started writing it a while ago (When I originally posted chapter one) and then abandoned it until just yesterday. And sorry this is mostly in Kaga-chan's POV until the end. I forgot I was kind of switching between perspectives and it just kinda made more sense from his.**


	3. Phone Numbers and New Keys

From: Akashi

11:35

Keep your head low. Don't draw too much attention to yourself. So long as no one suspects you, all should be fine. Don't stray farther from the plan than necessary.

After reading the message, Aomine sighs, thi was going to be more trouble than it was worth. He could already tell and his head already had a phantom ache from the migraine he was sure to get. The stray knew he had to put up with this bullshit because he was getting paid to do it, but he was beginning to doubt that the paycheck was worth it.

To: Akashi

11:37

Can do. Anything else?

He asks, clicking his phone off and rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. He really didn't want to stay here and deal with a brother who was, no doubt, more perceptive than Kagami Taiga who was honestly an idiot. When he hears his phone go off again, he fights his urge to groan.

From: Akashi

11:38

That will be all, Daiki.

To: Akashi

11:38

I'll keep in touch, then.

When his phone doesn't beep again for a few minutes, Aomine looks over at the still spaced out Kagami. "You know… If you don't wanna see your brother you can just say you're busy with school work or something." The panther says, hoping that maybe Kagami would do exactly that and refuse his brother's company, making his job a lot simpler.

"I can't. He can always tell when I'm lying. Besides, he'd just offer. I- uh… I might have mentioned to him that I was having a house guest of sorts and he's really stupidly protective." Kagami replies, his speech slightly rushed towards the end and the panther could tell he was stressed out by the way his ears were flattening against his head.

From: Tatsuya

11:40

Yes. I'll be landing at around 1:30 your time the day after tomorrow.

To: Tatsuya

11:41

okay see you then

To: Tatsuya

11:41

dont be too overbearing when you get here hes kinda a ass but i dont think hes a bad person

From: Tatsuya

11:43

You say that, but you're not very good at reading people, Taiga. Ah. I'm going to be stopping off in Akita first and… Well, you know Atsushi. He'll probably be tagging along. I'm sorry in advance for him. I'm going now. I have to pack. And sleep to avoid the jetlag. Good night.

Kagami doesn't reply to this, he simply tosses his phone onto the kitchen counter and groans. He presses his forehead into his hands and buries his fingers into his dark red hair, lightly brushing his skin across the soft fur of his ears.

"Ya know, whining and groaning isn't gonna fix the situation." Aomine says and Kagami wishes he could just bury himself and be over with it. Tatsuya was right. He was an idiot. He shouldn't just be letting strangers into his house. But he couldn't let the guy just freeze out there, that would be worse. Probably. At least now he doesn't have to worry about a guilty conscious. So he had that going for him. Sure, that would be the least of his worries if this guy murdered him, but still. With yet another sigh, Kagami pushes himself away from the counter to rinse off his plate and put it in the dishwasher.

"Ya know, if you don't like it you can always leave." The redhead replies, a bit belatedly, to Aomine's earlier words, to which the blunet only scoffed.

"Yeah, right." Aomine responds, following Kagami's example and setting his dishes in their place in the machine before closing it up again and making his way back to the room he was to be staying in from here on out.

From: Stupid Blondie

11:49

Aominechi!~ I heard you moved in with someone! Why do you have to be such a Aomeanie and not tell me? ( T ^ T ) I thought we were friends! I'm happy for you! \ ( ^ o ^ ) / But I'm upset you didn't even tell me you had a boyfriend. :(

From: Satsuki

11:50

Dai-chan! How dare you not even tell me you had a boyfriend! How could you make me find out you're moving in with someone through Midorin? We need to have a serious discussion!

From: Tetsu

11:50

Aomine-kun, congratulations on furthering your relationship with this mystery person I am only hearing about now.

As his phone practically explodes from the nearly simultaneous messages, Aomine groans, already sick of the passive aggressive tendencies and far too aggressive outbursts of emotions. Starting up a group chat the three that had spammed him together, he updates them on his current job.

To: Fuckfaces

11:52

First of all, fuck you all. I'm not dealing with your shit today. Secondly, I am TEMPORARILY living with KAGAMI TAIGA. Because I know Blondie has bad recall, yes. I know that name sounds familiar. That's because Kagami Taiga is my current hit. Now, just in case that doesn't tip you all off, I AM ON THE JOB.

He types up, mashing down on the keys a bit harder than necessary in his frustration before sending the message along. He got the typical responses from the three.

From: Stupid Blondie

11:53

Waaaah! Aominechi! So mean! But I get it! (σ ' ▽ ' )σ I'll leave you two lovebirds alone!~ ( ^ω^)

From: Satsuki

11:53

Alright, alright. I was just teasing.~ You're no fun, Dai-chan.

From: Tetsu

11:54

I apologize, Aomine-kun. I did not realize you were working on your case so diligently.

The panther reads through his responses and rolls his eyes, deciding not to feed his headache by responding. Rolling himself off his bed again, he pulls on his shoes and jacket before making his way towards Kagami's room and knocking on the door. "Hey, baka! I got some stuff at a friend's house I'm gonna go get." His black cat ears flick forward when a faint sound of rustling reaches them before the door swings open.

"You're your own person. You don't have to ask for permission." The redhead grumbles in response to the dark skinned man. "But… Are you you going to need a car to pack it all in? I can drive you. I was planning on going out in a few minutes anyway." Kagami offers, his crimson eyes flicking up to meet midnight blue.

"Oh. Well, since you're going out anyway..." Aomine says, lips pulling up into his usual smirk as he accepts the offer, figuring he could glean more information from the redhead. He felt bad about lying to the tiger, but he couldn't just come out and say that he was stopping by his own place. As Kagami pulls on his shoes and locates his keys, Aomine waits by the door, fiddling with his phone without really doing anything.

"Alright. Where are we going?" Kagami asks as he reaches the door and pulls it open for the both of them to step through.

"I'll just direct you. I don't remember what it's called." Aomine responds as he waits for the apartment door to be shut and locked so Kagami could lead the way to his car, which Aomine knew to be the latest Honda Civic, though Kagami didn't know that.

"Right..." The redhead replies, trailing off as he leads the darker haired man along to the black car and unlocks the doors. Sliding into his seat, he flicks the radio on, keeping the volume low as he buckles his seatbelt and shuts his door. "Okay, then. Where to?" Kagami asks again as he pulls out onto the main road. The car is quiet as they make their way toward their destination, filled only with the sounds of the slightly crackling radio, softly spoken directions, and the occasional clicking of the blinkers being on. It's not too long before Aomine is clicking off his seatbelt and letting the redhead know he wouldn't be gone too long. He's quickly out of the car and shutting the door behind him as he strolls lazily along toward the large building.

Aomine was glad he became… acquaintances with Akashi through school. The paycheck he was getting through the Akashi Corporation was good enough to keep him afloat and maybe it would continue to be. Hopefully this job would tide him over for awhile while he was searching for a new job. Or maybe the money would be enough to string him along for bit longer in this line of work. The blue haired man sighs as he pulls his keys from his pocket and unlocks his front door. He was on a sort of time limit, he should hurry, but he wasn't going to. He was going to take his sweet time gathering some of his clothes and other necessities. Just to piss of the redhead.

Meanwhile, said redhead had a feeling Aomine would be an ass and take awhile so he went ahead and took note of his location, the complex name and what building he was parked next to and made his way to the nearby hardware store that he knew would only take a few minutes to copy a key. Sure, he didn't know this guy too well, but if they were going to be living together, even if just temporarily, he should have his own key to the place. He'd let the landlady know he'd had the key copied when he informed her of his long term guest.

After speaking with the keysmith and choosing a printed pattern for the key, he knew the other man would be delighted to have the small piece of metal be pink with multicolored chibi pastel mochis on it, he walks around the store for a few minutes, making a mental inventory of things he might need. When the list comes up empty, he sighs and begins making his way back toward where he would be able to pick up the freshly made key.

Paying the man and thanking him for his labor, Kagami pockets the key and heads back to his car, driving the short distance back to his previous location. Noticing the figure of a slightly slouching, dark blue haired man with a duffel bag at his side moving toward him, Kagami decides that Aomine probably has excellent timing and he pulls up right in front of the panther, unlocking the doors to the vehicle to allow him in.

Aomine slings his backpack and duffel into the backseat before sliding into the door and shutting the door behind him. "And what if I had finished sooner?" He asks, a touch of annoyance in his voice as he addresses the tiger.

"You would have waited a few minutes or you would have found somewhere else to stay." The redhead replies easily, fluffy ears atop his head twitching a bit toward the dark skinned man as he spoke. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his phone and the key he had had made, tossing them both to the panther. "That's yours. If you're staying out late, I'm not waiting up for your lousy ass to get back and I can't sleep without the door locked. And give me your number. It'll make life a hell of a lot easier so I know if you're going to be feeding yourself or if I'm going to need to cook for you. Or if I'm out shopping I can pick up something you need." He says, pulling out of the parking lot after Aomine buckled his seatbelt. "Anywhere else you need to be today?" He asks as the panther grumbles about the design on the key, shoving it into his pocket before moving on to begrudgingly do as asked, saving his number into the phone.

"Not that I'm aware of." He replies, his voice holding a bit of resentment towards the tiger for his key choice as he holds out the red device and leans back in his seat, getting comfortable.

"Oh good. Then you're coming shopping with me." Kagami replies, reaching out to take the device and set it upright in the cupholder between them.

"Hah? Why do I have to go?" The blunet asks, now indignant for another reason as he glares over at the redhead who was grinning dopily, partially because he had managed to piss off the panther with the mochi key and partially because he was forcing him along shopping.

"The fridge is empty so I'm stocking up. I can carry a lot, but you're going to be earning your keep by helping. Besides, this way I can learn what kinds of things you like and don't like." He replies, smiling over at the darker skinned male innocently.

 **Sorry for the long wait! A lot's been going on! Family stuff as well as becoming familiar with and normalizing my new class schedule. But! Here it is!**


	4. Shopping Shenanigans

Pulling into the small parking lot of the store, Kagami unlocks the doors and shuts off the car. "Come on, then." He says, tail flicking a bit as he gets out of his seat and gives the panther a shit-eating grin. Grumbling, the navy blue haired man releases his seatbelt and gets out of the car, shutting the door a bit more forcefully than necessary. "Yeah, yeah. You done being a pissy kitten?" Kagami asks, back already turned after locking the doors again as he heads toward the store's entrance.

"Shut the fuck up. Why should I have to come help, anyway?" He complains, the soles of his shoes scraping along the asphalt as he follows along behind Kagami at a much slower pace, childish in his pouting.

"We've already been over this, aho. Or are you really so stupid you already forgot? I can go over it again for you if you need. Slower this time so you can remember it." The redhead replies, shooting a look of slight annoyance over his shoulder at the blunet.

"You're the stupid one, baka! You can do the damn shopping on your own. It's a sissy chore." The dark skinned man says, most definitely showing off his maturity as he quickened his pace just a bit to keep up with the redhead.

"Well, I'm sorry. If you want to eat, you're going to have to help." Kagami says, rolling his eyes at the man who was now walking beside him.

"I can get my own food. Just because I'm not living at home doesn't mean I can't buy my own food." Aomine grumbles, shoving his hands into his pockets as they enter the sliding door into the heated building. Kagami snorts as he grabs a basket and begins making his way through the store, pausing to grab something every so often.

"Right. You know you can't live on fast food and cup noodles, right?" The redhead says, voice full of scorn as he scowls over at the Stray who scowled right on back.

"Yeah? Well, you-" Kagami cuts the panther off by raising and waving his hand in front of his face.

"Alright. Now, you can shut up. Pout in silence, alright aho?" He says, stocking up his cart with his preferred coffee.

"You used to live in America," Aomine says after a moment of quiet between them. The redhead starts, eyes and ears flicking toward the man beside him.

"What..?" Kagami asks, crimson eyes a bit wide as his steps pause momentarily before he continues.

"You drink a lot of coffee but you don't really have any tea at all and there are a lot of Western-style dishes still in your fridge. And you did say you lived abroad for a while, didn't say where. It was just a guess. Am I wrong?" Aomine inquires, knowing he's right but unable to let Kagami know that.

"No… I did live in America when I was younger. I came back in my first year of high school. That was where I met my brother." Kagami replies, indulging the blunet with more information than he was asked for with no real reason as to why.

"Does he speak Japanese?" He asks, looking over at the redhead with a curious look in his eye, he needed to learn more about this brother without becoming suspicious. Then again… Kagami is kind of dense, he probably wouldn't be able to pick out something as suspicious if it was flamboyantly advertising that it was shady as fuck.

"Yeah. He's Japanese too. That's why we got along. He was actually living there a lot longer and noticed that I was by myself a lot, so he taught me how to play basketball and then he came back for high school. Anyways. That's beside the point. I guess one of his friends is tagging along too, though you probably don't care..." He trails off, stopping in front of one of the fridges to get a canned coffee. He is most definitely not an addict, thank you very much. He was simply tired. Surveying everything in the basket, he nods to himself after confirming he had gotten everything he needed. "Well, let's go. I'm done here." He says, turning the basket to walk towards the check-out stations.

Aomine huffs but follows along beside the redhead. Despite the fact that he seemed mostly put out by this whole trip, his ears belied his wariness, perked up and ready to catch even the smallest of noises. He really was bad at hiding his thoughts sometimes. He really had no idea why Akashi thought he was cut out for this kind of thing. Whatever. He got a nice paycheck out of it. That's what mattered.

"What do you want for dinner?" Kagami asks as he waits in the line to get checked out.

"I don't care." The navy-haired man grumbles, tugging his phone out of his pocket and opening his message thread with Akashi.

To: Akashi

1:17

Update: The brother is bringing a friend. Both are Japanese. KT met the brother while in America.

From: Akashi

1:18

I see… And you still have no gauge on how perceptive either of these people will be?

To: Akashi

1:18

I'll see what else I can get from him… Even if he's stupid though, I can't just flat out ask him. Even he would get suspicious.

"You said he's overprotective? Is he older than you?" Aomine asks, damn, that was as subtle as a bull in a china shop. But dammit, he needs information.

"Huh? You mean Tatsuya? Yeah. Just by a year, though he makes it seem like a bigger age gap than that. He thinks I'm completely hopeless. Which I guess is kind of true, but only a little bit." The redhead replies, unloading the contents of his basket for the cashier to scan.

"So does that mean he's not some baka like you are, then?" The panther asks teasingly, tail flicking as he sneers at the tiger.

"Shut the fuck up, aho. You're worse." Kagami shoots back, taking out his wallet to locate his card, readying himself to pay.

"Excuse you? There is no way I'm even anywhere near half as bad as you." Their bickering continues for a moment, only broken off by the timid voice of the cashier prompting Kagami to swipe his card.

To: Akashi

1:26

Brother's name: Tatsuya. One year older.

From Akashi

1:27

That's not much, but it's something… Good work. I'll look into him. Keep going as you are, understood?

To: Akashi

1:27

Understood.

Sighing, Aomine slips his phone into his pocket and begins lifting bags of the groceries Kagami had just paid for. The redhead snatches up a few bags as well, indignant as he looks over at the blunet, a slight disbelief on his face.

"This might be kind of a stupid question-" Kagami pauses and glares in Aomine's direction as he snorts before continuing. "But, you are a Stray. Right?" He asks, unlocking the car as they draw near the vehicle.

"Right," the dark skinned man confirms, dumping his armfuls of groceries into the backseat beside his bags.

"Then… Do you have an ability?" Aomine, though not particularly bothered by this string of conversation, was confused about where it was going but answered nonetheless.

"Increased speed and strength. Better reflexes. Nothing too interesting." Before he could continue on to inquire about the redhead's ability, the tiger jumped in with another question.

"So that was how you were able to jump through the window despite being on the ground?" Kagami asks, voice full of an almost childish sense of amazement as he shuts the door of the car, leaning against the frame to lessen the distance put between them because of the car.

"Uhhhh, yeah..." He lifts a hand to scratch the back of his head awkwardly. "What about you? Any special abilities in that thick skull of yours?" He asks, suddenly realizing what a great opportunity this was. They had on record that Kagami Taiga did, in fact, have an ability but absolutely no hint as to what it is.

"Well… I'm just a Pet… But I can manipulate light..." Kagami replies, each word growing quieter, each pause between every syllable drawing out longer. Navy blue eyes widen as his gaze snaps over to Kagami's deadly serious face. He knew Kagami's origin, he was far from just a Pet, but technically speaking still was. This… This was unheard of. Though abilities weren't impossible in Pets, they were much less likely and even within Strays, only those with the purest of blood had ever inherited elemental manipulation abilities. Though this tiger was already a trillion, this just quadrupled his rarity. Forcing his gaze away from Kagami, the blunet finally shuts the back door and slips into his seat, buckling himself into place as his mind goes in circles.

To: Akashi

1:34

He's an elemental manipulator.

Aomine sends the message despite knowing that Akashi wouldn't want to be interrupted during his research. However; he knew that his boss would be even more enraged if this didn't get to him as soon as possible. Unsurprisingly, his phone went off a moment later and the panther checks it immediately.

From: Akashi

1:34

Are you sure?

Three simple words. That was all it took for Aomine to somehow feel the sheer panic radiating from his boss that he was sure the other man was trying so hard to keep hidden. It was worse than he thought. If Akashi, the fearless leader who always seemed emotionless and unshakeable, so easily becoming terrified. For Aomine, who could have a difficult time picking up on people's emotions, to be able to pick up on that so easily from such a short text? How bad was this situation, really?

To: Akashi

1:34

Not entirely. No concrete proof or reliable confirmation, just his word. I'll keep you updated for sure. If this turns out to be the case, how will our plan be altered?

There was no doubt in his mind, the original plan was completely out the window at this point, he wasn't about to start beating around the bush now.

From: Akashi

1:35

If it is confirmed bring him in immediately, no matter the method. Do what you must to ensure his arrival, anything short of killing him is acceptable. If other's become collateral damage then that is the price we pay. If it is proven false, inform me immediately and we will act accordingly. Until then, do not let your eyes off him during your stay there for any reason whatsoever. Am I understood?

To: Akashi

1:36

Completely.

Aomine almost wanted to roll his eyes. Akashi's little display of power there at the end was unnecessary, but he knew full well that this was a delicate situation. He had better be getting paid well for this… Shoving his phone into his pocket again, he glanced over at the redhead in question. He had seemed serious when he had said it and all of the intel the blunet has on the college student confirms that he is honest to a fault. Sighing, he looks out the window and realizes, a bit surprised, that they were already almost back to Kagami's place.

"Sorry," Aomine says as they turn onto the street the tiger's building is on. "I didn't mean to make that whole drive so boring for you, tiger.~" He teases, smirking over at the redhead in the hopes of breaking through the stony expression Kagami had on his face.

"Excuse you? What the hell do you think you're hinting at, aho?" He asks, returning Aomine's grin with a heated glare. At less the expressionlessness was gone.

"Hah? You clearly missed hearing my velvety smooth voice. That's why you're pouting, right?" He continues, voice still playful as he rests his chin in the palm of his hand.

"What the hell are you on about, aho? You're a complete idiot!" He replies, crying out his response as he turns into the parking lot and making his way toward his assigned parking spot.

"Ne, ne! Don't be so mean. You don't have to hide your attraction towards me," the blue-haired man replies, waiting until the car was parked to unclick his seatbelt and get into the back seat to haul out his bags as well as the groceries. "Now come on, baka. I'm hungry and you've got groceries to put away." He says, already shutting the back door of the car and moving toward the building in front of him.

 **Alright! Another chapter already! Isn't that crazy?**

 **Well, I hope you were able to enjoy this latest installment!**

 **If you feel like this whole introduction of abilities was thrown in really suddenly, or if you have any other comments/questions/confusions, just let me know! I'll do my best to clear them up!**


	5. Waiting and Boredom

Alright! Hello! I'm sorry for not updating too much recently… I've been dealing with family stuff… I'm currently in school full time, but hopefully I'll be able to post a few chapters still… Also! I finally found my notebook for this fic! Hooray! Anyways… I'll let you get on to the actual chapter now. Thank you for continuing to read this, despite my lack of timeliness in updates… ^^;

After eating Aomine retreated to his temporary room to think, he wasn't sure what to make of the situation and he hadn't heard anything back from Akashi. He couldn't keep his eyes on Kagami like he had been told to od, but he was listening more intently than usual, his ears flicking towards even the slightest sound as he attempted to keep a blind surveillance on the college student.

Tatsuya, that was all Aomine knew to call him, was supposed to be coming in tomorrow and he still had no idea how he should interact with him. Fuck. This was going to be rough. He had no idea how long he was going to be staying here. How long this guy was going to be staying here. How much he would have to interact with the guy. And there was going to be two of them. Fuck.

Aomine was really beginning to think that he shouldn't have taken on this job. He was going to fry his brain with all the thinking and collapse from the stress. He should have left this to Tetsu, he had been vying for this job.

Groaning, the blunet rolls over in bed, careful to not squish his tail as he does so. He glares over at the bag he had brought with him and decides to unpack the damn thing. He'd be here a while.

Kagami had decided that he was angry with Tatsuya for deciding, basically on his own, to come back to Japan; but he couldn't really stay angry because it had been so long since he had last seen his brother. Taking out his phone, he opens up the thread he had going with his mentor.

To: Alex~3 (she had chosen her own contact name)

1:47

ur not coming w/ tatsuya r u

He sends along, hanging on to his awful text typing while hoping that the woman was still awake. Half the time she seemed like a vampire so he figured he had a pretty good chance of her being awake.

From: Alex~3

1:49

Taiga! I haven't heard from you in a while! How have you been? And why is it I'm just now hearing about this trip that Tatsuya is taking?

To: Alex~3

1:50

im doing fine

To: Alex~3

1:50

been busy with school

To: Alex~3

1:50

sorry

To: Alex~3

1:50

i thought he would have told u

To: Alex~3

1:51

i guess hes coming to visit 4 a bit

From: Alex~3

1:53

I swear. We need to put that boy on a leash. As calm and cool as he pretends to be, he's such a hothead.

To:Alex~3

1:53

i guess?

From: Alex~3

1:54

Don't worry, Taiga. I'm mostly teasing you.~

She replies and Kagami can't help his groan, this was why he didn't talk to her often. He loved her, really, she was so much like a mom to him, but she was exhausting. It was difficult to keep up with her.

To: Alex~3

1:57

i know, i know

To: Alex~3

1:57

you do that a lot

From: Alex~3

I'm sorry! You're just too cute sometimes.~ Like a kitten ^-^

Sighing, Kagami gives up, he reads the message but doesn't respond, just shutting off the screen of his phone as his ears flatten against his head in defeat. Throwing himself on his bed, Kagami blocks the light from entering his eyes by throwing his arm over his face. He was often questioned by Tatsuya as to why he didn't just 'bend' the light away from his vision, but messing around with light was tiring and took a lot of effort. He figured blocking it off physically was easier, faster, and had longer lasting effects.

He was already done with the day and it wasn't even half way over yet. He still wasn't sure what he was making for dinner, dammit. Ugh… Why did he have such an overbearing family..? He was almost regretting his decision to agree to Tatsuya's brother. If he had known the older boy was so protective, he might have made a different choice all those years ago.

Groaning, rolls onto his stomach and clutches one of his pillows to his chest in an attempt to comfort himself. He knew, even as he thought it, that that was bullshit. Kagami knew that the real problem was letting Aomine into his house. Fuck. Tatsuya was right. This was a stupid idea. It really, really was. He needed to start thinking before acting. With a huff, he sits up, pillow still squeezed in his arms. Thinking about this wasn't helping and he knew it.

"Okay. Dinner. What should I do for dinner..?" Kagami asks aloud in the empty room, hoping that speaking would force his train of thought away from his stupid decisions, of course the topic of food probably helped. "What have I not made in a while..?" He continues, pushing himself up off his bed and moving to his door to begin making his way to the kitchen before pausing and altering his course to head toward the guest bedroom Aomine was staying in. He knocks on the door, giving the blunet a moment to gather himself before he pushes open the door. "Okay, Aho. I didn't think to ask earlier. Are you allergic to anything?" The darker skinned male looks up from his phone in mild surprise as the redhead begins speaking. "Anything you don't like? What's your favorite food?" The tiger continues, fluffy red ears ears perked up as Aomine remains in stunned silenced for a moment.

"No allergies, but I don't like goya. I like teriyaki burgers." He says, offering up only the information he had been asked for.

"Hmm… How does...Oyakodon sound..?" He asks, a bit haltingly after hearing the panther's response, his ears and tail twitching a bit in apprehension as he waits for the blunet's reply.

"Yeah… That's fine..." Aomine speaks slowly, a bit confused. It was still early, not quite late enough for dinner yet, though now would be a good time to ask for information about Tatsuya, he found himself hesitant to ask for some reason. He wanted to think it was because Kagami Taiga's family life seemed complicated, that it wasn't worth the energy he'd have to use to keep up with the new information, but he knew that was poot tiger looked exhausted, like he need to just take a breath and clear his head, not be interrogated about the details of his family life by a stranger who was staying with him for an undetermined amount of time. Fuck, why was he worried about that? He never cared about those kinds of things and always just acted like normal towards everyone, regardless of the situation and the case. He didn't let these complications affect his work. Ever. So why was it now? This is the most important case he's worked on so far, the most important case he might ever work on, so why now? This is really the worst time to self destruct. Aomine drags his fingers over his face, a bit roughly, ignoring the tiger for a moment as he sighs, swinging himself off the bed and shoving his phone into his pocket. "Ugh…" The blunet takes a few small steps to his abandoned bag, propped up against the leg of the bed and pulls out a three ring binder, three inches thick but completely empty aside from a few papers.

Kagami, still standing in the doorway, cocks his head to the side, the confusion he was feeling clear on his face and in the way that his tail moved. "You alright there, Aho?" He asks, slightly concerned for the darker skinned male as he hesitates in the doorway, not wanting to walk away quite yet. The blunet ignores the question of concern, pulling out a plain file folder with some more unidentifiable papers stuffed into it. Flipping open the folder, he leafs through the contents before pulling out the paper he was looking for. He tosses all of the materials on his bed, pulling his bag a bit closer and practically ripping open another zippered pocket of his bag, rummaging around a bit before groaning and tossing the bag aside. Moving off the bed again, he freezes for just a second as he sees the redhead still hesitating at the door, he remains silent for a moment as he settles himself back down onto the mattress. "You wouldn't happen to have a pen I could use, would you?" He asks, surprising the tiger a bit with his suddenly formal tone.

"A-ah, yeah… Gimme a sec..." He replies, backing up from the guest room and moving on to his own room where his stash of Pilot pens resided. He returns to the panther's room just a bit later with an array of G-2 pens in hand, red, navy, blue, black. "Does color matter?" He asks, stepping into the room and stretching out his hand to offer up the pens that had been requested.

"Not really," he grumbles, the tip of his dark tail flicking a bit as he pulls the pen with navy colored ink from between the tiger's fingers, clicking open the pen and twirling ita bit to press the metal tip to the paper and began quickly scrawling words, just barely legible even you were to tilt your head and squint. Though Kagami couldn't really tell what it was supposed to be, it definitely looked official and he was momentarily struck with bewilderment at the idea that this idiot who seemed to be about his age, might actually have a decent job.

After a moment of observing the darker skinned male, Kagami backs out from the doorway again and leaves the panther to do his work as he thinks about what to do to stifle the boredom. He ended up sitting in the kitchen playing random apps on his phone as he waited for the time to pass by, hopefully a bit more quickly than it had been going. It didn't. Sighing, Kagami gives up on keeping himself entertained. Tossing his phone onto the counter, he he stands and begins moving around the kitchen, rummaging around in cupboards and pulling something out every so often. Moving on, he raids the fridge in a similar fashion, taking only a couple things from its chilly confines before setting them aside and gathering a couple of large bowls, measuring cups, an electric mixer, and a whisk. He decided that since he had time to do nothing he might as well make food.

Hearing the tiger moving around in the kitchen, seemingly restlessly, Aomine sets aside the paperwork that was nearly complete and moves toward the center of activity in the apartment, finding the redhead mixing things together in a bowl, ingredients spread out over the counter, broken egg shells beside the bowl that was currently in use.

"What are you making?" He asks, a bit confused as he seats himself in the place that Kagami had vacated . He wasn't well versed in sweets or what went into making them so he wouldn't be able to put things together himself to save his life, even with an endless amount of time to gaze into the mixing bowl half full of batter.

Red eyes roll at his question before finding their way back to the bowl in front of him. "It's a surprise. Unless your aho self can figure it out before I'm done." He replies, the lightness in his tone making it clear that he was teasing as he pours the batter into a pan and pushes it into the preheated oven. His tail sways around him as he begins cleaning up the things he didn't need anymore, wiping at the partially dried egg white that had dripped onto the counter because it was stubborn and refused to come out of its shell when he had initially cracked the eggs. After rinsing out the now emptied bowl of batter, Kagami begins tossing ingredients into the other, clean bowl, this time powering up the electric mixer. The frosting, as Aomine recognised it to be, didn't take long and the apartment was plunged back into silence as the mixer is shut off and then unplugged. The tiger pops off the whisk attachments and hands one over to the panther as he covers the bowl with plastic wrap and sets it aside for later before finishing off his cleaning of the kitchen.

 **Alright. So, I've had most of this chapter written for a while now, but I lost steam in the middle of it. So I had to force myself to sit down and finish this chapter. So if it seems a bit weird or disjointed, that's probably why.**


End file.
